The Sonoma State Men's golf team traveled to Vista, California on Feb. 2 to compete in a tournament. The tournament took place at Shadow Ridge Golf Club on Feb. 4-5. This tournament was hosted by California State University, San Marcos. Here, 15 teams showcased their skills meaning the Seawolves were forced to compete with some great competition. Some teams that made the trip as well were Oklahoma Christian University, California State University, Monterey Bay, California State University, Chico and University of California, San Diego.

The team wrapped up the tournament finishing in fourth place. This placement is definitely something to be proud of considering the other great programs that attended the tournament. Another team member, junior Devin Gregg went into a play for a individual spot eventually ending up being defeated on the fourth play-off hole. This tournament was a success for the Seawolves.

Prior to this tournament the Seawolves have shown great success in the fall semester competing in multiple tournaments. The two most recent competitions being in Waikoloa Village, Hawai’i, and Marina, California where there were great opportunities for the team to prepare for their spring tournaments. The team placed 11th out of 17 teams during the Otter Invitational hosted by the CSUMB otters. The following week the team then travelled to Hawaii. Here they placed at a very well respected 3rd out of fifteen teams. These tournaments helped prepare the team for the road ahead.

The Seawolves brought five of their seven team members to travel and compete. Throughout the two day tournament the competition was non-stop. Depending on the day, the individual team members would play either 18 or 36 holes a day. Basically, this means that each member of the Seawolves would be testing themselves against at least 18 challenging holes a day.

Senior golfer Spencer Clapp explained how the tournament was scored when saying, “We play either 18 or 36 holes each day and we take our best four scores out of five. The tournament is all stroke play so you must play your ball out until it is holed for all 18 holes.”

With every successful placing there are always lessons to be learned and improvements to be made. When talking to Clapp he explained something that could improve the team when stating, “We can all improve in our shot games.” Shot games are when strokes are taken inside 30 yards, which includes putting.

This will help the teams overall scores eventually landing them higher on the rankings.

The team was not completely satisfied, “Going forward we have all identified our weaknesses and realized it was not a bad tournament for us, however we definitely would have done better.” Clapp said.

As a team it is always important to take accountability and grow from competition. It is vital for the Seawolves to continue to build as a team in order to continue to climb the rankings.

The teams next tournament is only two weeks away.

The team will be competing in the Bay Area Invitational at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California on Feb. 25. To help support the team or follow their future tournaments visit sonomaseawolves.com.